but at the very least, he can leave a legacy for future be presidents to look back on and say, well, obama wasn't able to complete it there, but we can do it in the future. >> in the introduction that's reprinted in the series of biographies that artur edited for -- arthur edited for times books, john seigenthaler -- [inaudible] he quotes henry adams saying that a president of the united states is like the commander of a ship at sea. he should have a course to steer ask a sense of mission. tom, you have covered presidents back beginning with polk as i recall -- [laughter] so what do you -- where would you put obama -- >> on that scale? well, i'm going to take, seek refuge as historians do by saying it's too early to tell. [laughter] >> only time will tell. >> but what i think is -- i've been a journalist for 50 years, a student of the american political process every waking moment of that time as well, and i've been inside the gate a lot during times of crises and triumphs. and my one overarching conclusion is no one is prepared when they walk through there the day after they've been sworn